When asked during an NBC press event today about the well-documented decline in ratings that Fox’s American Idol has seen this year, judge Adam Levine shut down the attempt to drum up any ill-will between the two singing competition shows. “We don’t get involved in a stupid s–t like that,” he said. “What’s the point? We love our show. [Idol] is an institution…At one point it was getting bigger ratings than we’ve ever gotten. So we don’t think about that when we make our show. We think about making our show as good as it could possibly be.”

For the record, it’s been pretty good – and the ratings have reflected it. The show recently hit a season high during its battle rounds, and has also drawn praise for new judges Shakira and Usher, who along with returning judge Blake Shelton all attended Monday’s event.

Speaking of the new additions, Shelton admitted that he was initially “a little bit nervous” about welcoming two new judges this season “because I knew how well the show was doing,” but his worries turned out to be unwarranted. “I’ll be damned if it’s not as strong as it’s ever been,” he said. “I’m proud of that.”